Her Angel
by Winter Arani
Summary: COMPLETE. Totally Erik and Christine. My first Phantom fic. Review and let me know what you think.
1. Chapter 1

(This is my first Phantom fic! Please review)

**Angel of Music**

Christine stood in front of the Opera House. It was not as she remembered it years ago, when she first came here. To the first years she had heard him. Her Angel of Music. Would he still be there? she asked herself. There was only one way to find out. Only one way to stop the nightmares. To let the past rest. As it should, she added. Would she still find the way? She opened the old doors, crept inside. Cold. That is what she thought when the draft hit her face.

"Oh, Erik," she said sadly as she made her way to her old dressing room."What has become of your opera?" She silently stalked along the corridor until she reached her room. The door creaked opened. Could she still hear that operatic voice drifting up from below? Or was it her imagination? She walked slowly to her mirror. Pushing the lever in the corner, the mirror swung open. The cooridor was exactly as she remembered it the last time. She entered, and the mirror closed behind her. She felt her way along the wall slowly. It was dark, and she didn't have a torch or a candle to light her way. _Erik. I have to know. _She thought silently as she crept along. It took forever. It wasn't as she last left it. She finally found the passage that led to his lair.

She stood at the entrance. It was destroyed. Music sheets scattered everywhere. She made her way over to the organ and lovingly stroked the egde, dust comiing off of her finger from lack of use.

"Oh, Erik," as she thought of the sungs he sung to her for years. The tune came to her mind, even though it was years since she heard it. How she couldn't stop thinking of him, of his music.

'_Angel of music, guide and guardian, stay by my side, guide me; Angel, my soul was weak forgive me.'_ "Erik, forgive me, oh forgive me." She sat down, tears springing to her eyes. Her fingers played lightly over the yellowed keys.

"Christine..." it was a whisper, barely heard as she softly played the song in her mind. She froze. Had she expected someone down here? After all this time? She didn't want to look around. She didn't want to be wrong. "Christine!" The call came louder.

"Angel.." she whispered back. She stood from the organ. "My Angel."

Two hands were placed on her shoulders, turning her around. To look at her face.

"Why? Why did you come back?" Erik's voice was quiet.

Christine forgot her shock at seeing him after so long and hugged him, burying her head into his chest. It startled him. He slowly put his arms around her, hugging her deeply.

"Oh, Angel." When he heard her sweet voice, he didn't care for the reason any more. Her whisper was what he needed to hear. He could not forget. .Nor would ever again.

Christine pulled back first. Looking up at the face...the mask..., which was in her dreams constantly. "I came back, Erik."

"I let you go, Christine, I let you go to _him_. Why are you here?" His voice ws unsure of what he beheld.

Christine entwiined her fingers around his neck,"Because I love you, Erik." She pulled his face down to hers for a deep, lingering kiss. He let himself go, gave himself in. He still loved her, still dreamed about her. About her face. About her voice. The voice that haunted him still. He pulled back. "Where's de Chagny?" He asked looking around as if Raoul would still be here.

"He's not here, Erik." she sighed, "I left him. I was haunted, haunted by your face in my dreams. It was not him who I dreamed of when I fell asleep at night." She pulled him towards her again. "That voice. I want to hear it again. Oh, how I longed to be back here, back in the Opera. Raoul wouldn't let me leave. Not after what happened that night. Please, sing for me, as you once did, Angel of Music." She pulled him towards the organ bench. He sat down, fingers flying over the once familiar keys, playing the captivating duet of so long ago. Thier voices lifted up in song, her voice still strong, unwavering; his deep operatic voice.

'_In all your fantasies, you always knew, that man and mystery, were both in you. And in this labrninth, where night is blind, the Phantom of the Opera is there, inside my/your mind!'_

She had returned to him, her angel of music. The man she truly loved and always will, will always stay with him,no matter what.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Christine pulled back from Erik. The song playing in her mind over and over again.

"You betrayed me, Christine." was the whispered remark. The music on the organ had fallen silent, and he turned around. He watched her intently. The mask that Meg had left, and he had returned to. The mask that haunted her for the past six years in her dreams. She knew it no longer would.

_'I gave you my music, made your song take wing, and now, how you've repaid me, denied me and betrayed me..._' his voice drifted on the last word.

Christine reached down and stroked his cheek, the un-scarred one, softly.

"But I've returned, Erik. Don't you understand?" Christine implored. "To my teacher, my guide and guardian, my _Angel_!"

"What's this?" he whispered dangerously. He grabbed her wrist, lifting her hand. The gold that glinted on her finger in the lone candle's light gave it away.

"But, Erik," she squirmed uncomfortably. His grip was tight.

"I loved you, Christine," he said, "But I will not have another man's wife. I would have in the past, but not now." His grip loosened, and he sighed wearily.

"I'm leaving, Christine," he continued, "This was supposed to be my last visit here...to collect ny music"

She could say nothing for a long while. "Where will you go to? Where will you stay? Come with me, Erik. Leave the past..leave the night alone. Please, Erik."

"I closed my heart to you when you left me that night. Left me broken, in pieces like that mirror that I shattered that night!" He shouted out that last part before leaning his head in his hands and sobbing. Christine knelt before him, placed her hands on his.

"Don't leave me just, yet, Erik. I will think of something..." her voice trailed away as she left him alone for the second time in her life.

Meg knocked on the study door, The servant who had showed her in told her Raoul would be in the study.

"Come in!" the voice called out. Meg timidly opened the door.

"Raoul?" she said.

He looked up from his writing, " Yes, Meg?'

"It's Christine, sir," she said quietly,"I don't know where she is. I was wondering if you knew."

Raoul stood up sudden;y, scattering his papers by the sudden movement. "No, she did not tell me anything. I wasn't even aware she was gone. What did she tell you?"

"She told me she was going for a walk," Meg answered, "But she has been gone for sometime. Hours, I should think."

"I told her..." Raoul's voice trailed off, "We would start a new life...Told her to stay away..." He looked at Meg with a ferociousity in his voice.

"The Opera," Meg finished for him, as Raoul grabbed his coat and rushed out of the room.

He flew down the stairs with Meg close behind him.

He was stopped in his tracks as Christine came in through the front doors of the de Chagny estate.

"Christine! Where have you been?" he asked as he rushed up to her. He pulled her into an embrace. Christine looked at him, in those eyes that she loved.

"You knew that I was gone?" Christine asked icily, her gaze falling on Meg. Her best friend. She _trusted_ her.

"Well, " Raoul started as he pulled himself away from her, "Meg told you were gone for sometime. I just started to worry."

"I'm back, so you needn't worry anymore," Christine said, and brushed past them both.

"Christine!" he shouted after her as she began to climb the steps to her room."If you had enough respect for me, you would tell me where you were."

Christine turned around when she reached the top stair, "Visting an old friend, Raoul, just visiting an old friend." With that said, she hummed a tune in her head. She had much to prepare.

"That's what I was afraid you'd say," he said quietly watching his wife's retreating back.


	3. Chapter 3

(I'm hoping this story is going the way I want it too! Also, thank-you for your reviews! I really appreciate them!)

**Chapter 3**

She had come. She had come back. The words played through Erik's mind as he played a song on the organ. Should he wait? She did say she would come back to him. The black wall that he encased his heart in. Was it caving in? Oh, how he loved to hear her sing, that voice he had taught so well, the voice he will never forget. _'Oh, Christine_', he whispered in his head. He smiled softly as the music filled the room. Yes, he will wait. Will wait and see what happens next. She will come back to him once more.

------------------

"Meg," he groaned softly, "Perhaps you can get her to come out."

"Raoul!" Meg cried out, "It is not my duty to interfere in your marriage. But I'll talk to her."

The petite blond haired girl stepped up to the door. Knocked softly, "Christine. It's Meg. Please come out of there!"

"Go away!" came the muffled answer.

"Please talk to me, Christine," Meg pleaded. There was silence. Then the door silently opened. An arm reached out, and pulled Meg in. The door slammed shut again.

"Meg!" Christine said, "Why did you tell him?" She now paced the room. Meg leaned against the door.

"I didn't tell him, Christine, I swear to you I didn't," Meg said as she watched Christine walk back and forth.

"What?" she stopped, then sat down in a leather chair. "Oh, Meg. This is hard. This is so hard. I wanted my Angel back. I wanted to find out if he escaped that night." She started crying.

"Why, Christine, why?" Meg came up beside her, put her arm around her, as if to comfort her.

"The dreams, the nightmares I've had every night since then. Why did I leave him there by himself?"

"Doesn't Raoul make you happy anymore?" Meg asked.

"Raoul has given me everything I possibly could want. But I'm not happy, Meg, I'm not _happy_." Christine paused. She looked up into the eyes of her best friend in the world. "I'm leaving him, Meg. This is not the life for me."

Meg almost fell backwards._'Did I hear that right?_

There was pounding on the door, "Christine! I need to speak with you!"

"You must tell him, Christine," Meg said, "You must."

"I will," Christine said solemnly, "Some how, I always knew it would come to this."

"Please, send Raoul in," she said to Meg, who only nodded and left the room. Moments later, Raoul came and stood beside her.

"Christine..." Raoul said, "Little Lotte."

Christine stood, walked to the window and stood, crossing her arms. She breathed in deep.

"Christine..Please talk to me." Raoul followed her and stood behind her.

"I knew where you had gone. Meg didn't have to tell me that," he said. "My only question is: why? Why would you do this to me? To yourself? I thought you had wanted to start again. Start over. Away from the Opera Populaire."

"That is what I did want, at one point." Christine said bluntly, "Now, I don't know what I want. Except to sing, To hear his voice one more time."

"Christine! He was a monster! He cared nothing for you!" Raoul exclaimed, then realized that was the wrong thing to say.

"What would you know? He was with me for years! He taught me to sing! Meanwhile, I've seen you become more and more distant to me over these years. You are hardly the man I know anymore," Christine spun around. Her eyes had tears, and there was hurt. Yes, there was hurt in her eyes.

She continued with her rant. "I know what he's like inside, Raoul. All he wanted was somebody to love him for who he was."

"So you claim to still have love for him," Raoul sighed. It was more of a statement then anything. "Is that why you sometimes wake at night? Screaming _his_ name?"

"Yes," Christine replied, "I wanted the nightmares to end. Oh, Raoul, I didn't expect him to still be there. After all this time..."

"Christine, I know that I haven't been the perfect husband for you, Maybe," he said quietly.

"No, Raoul, you were, but my heart can no longer be torn into two. As it was this entire time,"Christine said. "Good-bye, Raoul. I'm leaving." She brushed past him and left the room.

"Wait! Christine!" he rushed out of the room to catch her, "Where will you go?"

"To my Angel, Raoul."

He heard her voice drift up to him from the main hall. _Her Angel_.

He walked briskly into his study. Opened the desk drawer he always kept locked. Pulled out a black ebony box that had real gold trim. He opened it. Took out his pistol and cocked it. He hid it in his coat, and left the room. He ran past Meg on the way down.

"Wait! Raoul! Where are you going?" she shouted after him.

'To finish what I started that night so long ago."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N- Sorry it took me so long to update. Problems with my computer and internet. Unfortunatly this is my last chapter. I want to thank you all for your reviews. I'm finishing up with my Star Wars fanfics, plus starting another one. Thank you very much! Merci beaucoup! Grazie mille!**

Meg glanced at Raoul's quickly retreating backside. This was happening way too fast for her to not do anything. She grabbed her own coat, and followed them out. Whatever was going to happen, she knew she had to stop it.

Christine hurried along the streets, reaching the opera house in record time. In moments, she was at Erik's lair. _At least he tried to clean it up a bit_,she thought as she entered by way of the shattered mirror, a short-cut she had found out only hours earlier. She walked slowly to the organ bench, sat down. Waited an eternity, and still Erik did not show. Sighing, she picked up a pile of sheet music that were carelessly thrown down, and organized it into a neat little pile.

"That didn't take long," a whispered voice said behind her, into her ear. She stood up and spun around.

"Erik!" she threw her arms around him once again.

"Christine." He said, " Something does not feel right."

"What do you mean?" she asked and pulled away from him.

"It just doesn't." he replied.

"Are you sure it's not just from being alone?...Are you paranoid?" she asked.

"It may be just an acute awareness." He said, and sat down on the bench. "Why were you here so soon? I was not expecting you for some time. A long while." He gingerly took her hands in his. She shifted her eyes downward.

"Raoul and I had a fight earlier, when I got home." She paused, "I came here right after. "

"Have you been...followed?At all?" he asked, and left her standing there. He stood at the lake's edge."Oh, Christine." He sighed, then turned around. "We must leave. Now. Or it will be too late."

"Then, let's just go. Quickly," she agreed. He leaped up the steps, taking two at a time. He grabbed her hand, preparing to exit through the shattered mirror.

Raoul had followed the old path to the Opera Populaire. Instinct drove him forward as he sought to once again claim what had been his. He reached the outer doors at a dead run. He stopped just in front of them, breathing hard. _What was that way I took?_ He heaved the doors open with a slam., running inside.

"Christine! Christine!" He shouted in vain. His cries fell upon cold, dark, silence. He went along the way to the dressing rooms. The mirror that he seen Christine use...Could he remember how? With his breath coming in ragged gasps now, he silently opened the door to Christine's old room. The mirror was there, and it was _open_. Either Christine left it open, or it could be a trap. No matter what he was going forward. He stalked along the path that his wife had taken with Phantom years ago. It was ages, but he arrived at the entrance to the lair. Then he saw _him_. The Phantom. The monster.

"Hold it right there." Raoul spoke across the distance. He had taken out his pistol, and had it aimed. "I should have known..._Phantom_." He spat out the word as if it burned his tongue.

"De Chagny. I bid you welcome to the Phantom's opera." Erik walked towards him, arms outstretched as if to show him the vastness of the darkness. "_Did you think that I would harm her? Why would I make her pay for the sins which are yours?_"

"Your games are at an end, this time I will make sure." Raoul's voice was dangerously low and threatening. "Christine made her choice that night."

"I let her go. I knew she would return...eventually. "Erik smiled beneath his mask. "It was only a matter of when."

The Phantom now faced Erik, in knee deep water.

"Don't make me kill you. Return Christine to me. At once." Raoul said. His gaze traveled over to where Christine was standing, where she had those five years ago. "Christine. Please. Come over here."

Christine hesitated, unsure of what to do next. "No. Raoul. I can't. Not now." She stepped towards Erik, instead of going to Raoul.

"Christine! What are you doing?" De Chagny called out to her. "I belong to the Phantom now. Can't you see? _Couldn't _you see? Those years that have gone by. You took me away from my dreams that night. All those times I sang the words from that night. I'm staying here. I'm sorry, Raoul."

"Yeah." Raoul answered bitterly. "I'm sorry too."

"For what?" The answer took both Christine and Erik by surprise.

"For what I didn't do that night." Raoul lined up Erik with the sight on his gun.

"Raoul!" The voice startled him, and he turned to look. Meg ran up to them. Erik took that moment and leaped forward, trying to wrestle the gun from Raoul's hand. The Vicompte turned his attention back to Erik, who had a strong hand on the gun and was attempting to take it. He grabbed it in his other hand, trying to break Erik's hand.

A fight ensued. Raoul punched Erik in the jaw. Staggering backwards, he regained his balance and tackled Raoul. Both men fell into the water. Erik managed to grab the gun. He wrenched it away from Raoul's hand, grabbing hold of his wrist.

"You still can't beat me, _de Chagny_." He spit out Raoul's name. "Even though I am years older than you." Raoul broke free, crawling up the stairs to get away. The gun was now pointed at him.

"Why should I not shoot you now, just like you would have moments ago?" Erik said. He threw the gun aside. "Because I am not like you. Christine."

The woman came to his side in an instant. He turned to her, took her face in his hands, looked down on the face he loved so much. "Oh, Christine. Come away with me. Please."

Tears sprang to her eyes as she looked through his eyes,_ into _his heart. His sincerity. His sadness. His pain. That is what she saw. She turned to Raoul.

"Raoul. I'm sorry. My choice is clear. Good-bye, Raoul." She took Erik by the hand. Walked away from Raoul, from Meg. She never looked back. They left by way of the shattered mirror. Never to be seen again for a long, long time. She had her Angel. They had each other. Raoul just let them go.

-----------------------------------------------

"I never really had her, did I?" Raoul asked of Meg, after a long silence. "She was never mine. I may have had her heart. I never had her mind, her _spirit_. Did I?"

Meg sat beside him on the steps in the Phantom's old lair.

"Oh, Raoul. I never knew she would betray you like this." She sighed before standing. "Let's go home." She pulled him to his feet. Then,they too left the lair.


End file.
